Health

Whether it’s our children or ourselves, it’s very important to make sure that there’s a strong balance between enjoying oneself and working hard in a sport while also ensuring one’s body is capable of what’s being demanded. Like nutrition, this is one of those challenging topics in recent years. The reason is that there is mainly a lack of good information that is being disseminated to people. We won’t get into the what we believe is a debacle of unprecedented proportions, when it comes to food advice, quality, and eating habits. We’ll have to tackle that topic in a whole series of other posts.

Back to sports and one’s ability to perform the activity well. There is, again, a lack of good knowledge that is being made available to both young athletes, as well as adults and older participants of sports or just activities. We say this because the focus has changed through the past few decades. It used to be that cardiovascular aspects of fitness and burning calories was the most important thing. Indeed, if you walk into most gyms or ask people their impression of what is a “good” thing to do, they will answer with some type of cardio activity. Of course, you can burn calories doing this, but you’re also potentially performing massively repetitive strain-inducing motions that your body can’t appropriately handle.

Then, we come to goals. Some people simply won’t care because we also have a popular culture today of the “extreme” sports players or otherwise folks that are up for a challenge. So, we are equating with (essentially) abusing our body with repetitive motions in the name of achievement. Then, a central point of ours here is that people are not even equipped well to do this. We say this in terms of having the core strength to perform the tasks. In fact, that’s another confusing term we used there, that means different things to different people. When we say core, there’s sure a large audience that will think we’re talking about abdominal muscles, especially pretty ones and the almighty “six-pack” that everyone is fixated on like a zombie.

In fact, we mean something completely different. We mean functional strength at the core of the body, which is the area around the hips. Especially the posterior area is where there’s a massive source of power. Just like at sprinters or others that perform explosive work of that nature and you will see it clearly illustrated. This functional core strength is critical for everyone wishing to stay healthy for the long term and to have good performance in the activities that they engage. Whether that activity is football, running, or table tennis, how the body needs to work is identical.

Speaking of table tennis, we ran across an excellent site lately that has good reviews of different tables for purchase. Stiga is an excellent brand, but those that appreciate the sport should also check out Joola’s best ping pong table, as well before making a final decision.

A lot of kids are into sports these days, despite the rise of eGames – a kind of sport that lets you play against other players using electronic devices such as computers and smartphones. However, there is only so much that these devices can do. Your child’s physical movements are limited, and it only increases the risk of acquiring various diseases. This doesn’t mean that the eGames are bad and should be avoided. Your child just needs to interact with other children of their age and play with them a sport that they will truly enjoy.
Everybody knows that getting into sports is a highly beneficial activity, but the only thing that majority knows about is how it can keep people physically fit. When it comes to team sports, it has qualities and values that have a lasting impact on its participants.

Teamwork and Leadership
When it comes to team sports, it will teach your child the importance of it. Not only will it help your child realize what teamwork is, but the values that he or she receives and learns from the sport will also influence their decisions when they grow into adults. It will also have a great impact on how he or she works in a team in the corporate world. Engaging in a team sport can also provide your child an opportunity to learn about the qualities of being a good leader, a skill that is rarely taught in classrooms and an invaluable skill for adults.

Healthy Lifestyle
Everybody knows that once you are participating or active in sports, you are physically fit. When children are taught at an early age the importance of being physically fit, they will bring that habit with them as they grow older, not to mention all throughout his life. Over 30 percent of the children in the US alone are recorded as overweight, according to the records from Emory Healthcare. Children that are diagnosed as overweight has a very high possibility that they are going to be obese when they reach adulthood, too. This is because they are bringing their attitude or habit that they’ve learned when they were a kid all the way when they are adults. Playing team sports will help your child keep themselves fit, which will prevent him from suffering weight issues when he reaches adult age.

Improve Self-Esteem
Your child that participates in a team sport will build up their self-esteem and self-confidence, which can influence in other parts of their lives. This is based on an official study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children that participate in sports are recorded to be happier and less depressed or have anxiety issues. They are also less likely to show bad behavior, as stated from the New York University Child Study Center. The habit that they pick up while doing team sports not only be ingrained in them, it will also follow them through their adult life. Children that are involved in sports mostly feel better regarding themselves, physically and socially, when they turn into adults.

Discipline, Trust, and Respect
Your child will also learn discipline, respect and even trust through his or her participation in team sports. The qualities, as aforementioned, will help build her or his character, thus adding more success to their lives. He or she will learn more about setting up their goals and even work hard for it to achieve it.

Decisiveness
Children that do team sports are less likely going to make any bad decisions, like drug abuse, smoking, and drinking alcohol. This is based on a study conducted by the University of Florida. While they are a part of the team, children will learn how important it is for them to stay healthy and at the same time create a good decision for them to perform at their best.

I hope this introduction to this topic has given your some good food for thought around this topic. Getting your children in sports can be a wonderful way to help them not only learn a sport, play well with others, and develop good fitness, but it can also do so much more for them. It can also pay off in other ways, they may make it on the scouting report and eventually provide some monetary value or financial assistance for their college education.